Improvement in harvester guard-fingers



@uitrit gratos` @anni @titre .WILLIAM ANSON .Vl/'001), 0F HOOSICK FALLS,NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 71,257, dated`Novcmbe'r 19, 1867;

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTER GUARD-FINGERS.

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Be it known that LrWrnnr'nM'ANsoN Woon, of Hoosick Falls, county ofRensselaer,and State of New York, have invented certain new andusei'ulImprovements in the Mode of Constructing Guard-Fingers for HarvestingMachines, and I do declar'ethe following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription ofthe construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had teithe accompanying drawings7 making a part of this Aspecification, in which- Figure 1 represents the lower portion'of theguard-linger before the cap and lining to the cutte/r cavity is fastenedto it, and is a top view thereof.

Figure 2-is a longitudinal sect-ion through the centre of tig. 1.

Figure 3 is a side view of the piece which forms the cap, and the liningto the cavity through which the cutters vibrate. l

Figure 4 isa longitudinal section of the guard-finger, when completed,through the centrethereof.

Figure 5 is an elevation of` the chill used in casting the lcap andlining piece, when the same is made of Acast iron.

Figure l'iis a transverse section of fig. 5.

My invention relates to the combining, in the construction ofguard-fingers for harvesters,y two kinds of metal, or two varietiesofthe same metal, insuch a way that the larger portion thereof shallhave for its char, acteristic quality toughness or strength, towithstand the strain of constant use and the shocks of accidentalcollision with foreign matter, to which, from the nature ofthe case, itmust be subjected; while the'other portion has for its characteristicquality, hardness, to make a sharp cutting edge, to withstand thevibrations ot' the cutters, and their action thereon, in severing thestalks ofthe crop to be eut; the whole forming a cheap, efectivo, anddurable guard-finger.

A To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the same with referenceto the drawings.

A is the main part ofthe guardinger, made of malleable or wrought iron,as the case may be, provided with a hole, a, at its heel, for thereception of the bolt, to hold it to the linger-bar, and may be attachedtothe nger- 'bar in4 any ofthe well-known ways, and is' constructed, ,asshown ings. l and 2, with a solid point, but is-hollowed out from apoint, just in front of the point of the cutter, to the heel of theguard-linger, orto a point near to where it joins the yhoger-bar. B is apiece of east chilled iron or hardened steel, which is made in such formthat its lower surface ts into the upper surface, made for its receptionin the -Inain part of the guard-finger A, the depression b, in the mainpart, receiving the swell e of the harder partB. The cavity ordepression d in the main part A of the finger towards the point,receivingthe round part e of the portion B, while the projection fpasses through the hole g in B5 or, if deemed advisable, a rivet may beused, passing'through both A and B, instead of the projectionf. In casemalleable iron is used, the .projectionfis preferable, as 'it'canreadily be headed down and used in place of a rivet, and save drillingfor a rivet. On each side of the depression eZ is left a lip, t, and ofsu'ch height and thickness that, after the piece B is inserted, thesetwo lips may be readily closed down over the end e of the par't B with ahammer, makingal closefit, and holding the forward end of the cap orhardened piece securely in its place, while its rear end is held eitherby heading 'down the projection f into the countersunk portion of-thehole `q,'or by passing through both a rivet, and riveting each endthereof. Figure 4 shows the two pieces fastened together and the guardcomplete. e i

As beforer stated, this style of guard-nger maybe made from malleable orwrought iron, for the main part,- combined with common chilled cast ironor, hardened steel for the other, or any substance lwhereby suilicientstrength is attained `in the one, and a durable cutting edge in theother. My preference, however, is for a malleable lower part forsecuring strength, and an upper part, c'ast over a chill of cast iron,of goodquality.l When this material is used, the chill U, figs. 5 and 6,is inserted in the sand in the usual way, and thus the interior surfaceof the cavity a' is made as hard as hardened steel; and when theguard-finger is properly ground, theedges of the guard-nge1'cxposed tothe knife,will present an edge which will not be rounded over by use, or'be' eut into by the knife, as is frequently the case, and thereby 4stopentirely the action ofthe cutters. IIt is also desirable that thatportion vot the guard-finger which overliesthe cutters should be hardfor, although the most of the crop is cut between the lower limb oftheVguard-nger and the cutter, yet the top portion, or that portionwhich overlies the cutters, has also to do its share towards holding upthe crop to be cut, and not unfrequently in stony or uneven lands thecutters are forced up, either by the small stones getting under theacutter or by the rolling o1 twisting of the finger-bar, so as to bringthe cutting edge in contact with the upper limb or cap of theguardfdnger. Of course, if the upper limb is made hard, there will be asgood a cutting edge above as below the knife, and thus all emergenciesvof this kind will be provided for.

I am aware that guard-fingers have been made of two kinds of material,one soft and another hard, and the cutting cavity through which tbecutters vibrate has been lined with hard iron or hardened steel, and Ido not claim this device broadly; and I do not claim the simple lining,asv the'cap or upper limb is too thin to admit of any practical lining.My plan 'is to make the whole guard-cap or upper limb of theguard-finger, together with the facing of the `entire cavity, ofone'kind of metal, and in one piece, and the remainder of the nger ofanother. v

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my invention, whatI claim therein as new, and desire to secure by LettersV Patent, is- I1.v Inserting in the main body of a guard-finger for a harvestingmachine a piece of metal, harder than the main body of the guard-finger,when.the piece so inserted shall form the entire guard-cap, and also acomplete lining to the cutting cavity, through which the cuttersvibrate.

2. Constructing a guard-nger with lips L 7L, in combination with thehardened piece B, or their equivalents, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth;

l ,WM. ANSON WOOD.

Witnesses: l

C. A. CHENEY', JOHN E. WILcoX'.

